Source:  LaRed news website

According to Karen López of the Río Dulce Tourism Self-Management Committee, yachts are not allowed to leave the country without first paying import taxes, but they are not given a solution to stay.

Mr López said a multi-institutional meeting was held in early April to discuss the issue of expanding the permit for sailboats to stay in national waters.

Currently the maximum permit for a yacht to stay in Guatemala is two years. He explained that when yachts enter they receive a 90-day license that can be extended for another nine months, with another 12 month extension option.

“After those two years, they are forced to leave (the country) for three months. Which we also consider an inconvenient rule not to call it absurd because what country wants its tourists to leave?” questioned M. Lopez who added that they were fighting to change the law so that sailors could stay as long as they want.

“We have a jewel in our hands and we have not been able to exploit it. In addition, this puts us as a black point on the tourist map because who is going to want to come with these conditions?”, he said.

Sailboat tourism is a major source of income

Karen López stressed that sailboat tourism was a major source of income for 4000 families that depend directly and indirectly on this sector for their livelihood.

“Many visitors leave their boats in Río Dulce to safeguard them from hurricanes, usually from June to October, the cyclonic season in the United States.”

The deputy for the department of Izabal, Lorena Teo, proposed an amendment to initiative 5857 National Tourism Reactivation Law, to extend the Long Stay permit for sailboats to five years.

Ricardo Yurrita, mayor of legal affairs of the Superintendence of Tax Administration (SAT), said that his department was willing to listen to the positions and analyze the legal procedures.

Pushing for Changes

Jim Kenworthy, the Ocean Cruising Club’s Port Officer in Rio Dulce confirmed that efforts were being made to get the law changed to make it easier for yachts and their crew to stay longer in Guatemala, in places such as Rio Dulce.

“The Rio Dulce is a great hurricane hole and a wonderful place to live,” he said.  “The Superintendencia de Administracion Tributaria (SAT –  Guatemala Customs) is working with the legislature to get the law changed to make a five year temporary import for yachts coming into Guatemala.

“It has been a long education process, not only for SAT, but the government of the Department of Izabal. When the country was locked down at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many cruising boats were caught in Belize, Mexico, and Honduras. It took a lot of effort to get a special humanitarian exception, to allow these yachts into Guatemala for the hurricane season.”

Mr Kenworthy and his wife Kitty are live-aboards at a marina in the Rio Dulce and said that in late April the marina owners had a meeting with SAT and representatives from Guatemala’s Immigration Department.

“I have attached a copy of the English translation of the results of that meeting which outlines a temporary solution to the problem. If the law is actually changed, the procedure in the attached document will not be necessary. The Immigration procedure will not change because of the CA4
 immigration treaty.”

Noonsite Note:  The information from LaRed website has been translated from Spanish.

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Related Links

Rio Dulce Meeting Notes (courtesy Jim Kenworthy)